Now the average is down to just over $5,000 with many families looking to the cheaper cremation option.
Funeral Director Keith Massey told the Irish Independent: “The spend on funerals is right down. I would say people are now spending $5,000 on average, compared to $9,000 just two years ago.

“In 2005 and 2006, it was pretty common for $15,000 to be spent on funerals. In those cases, families might have spent $2,500 on flowers alone, but that figure is now down to between $200 and $350.

“And back then, there were often four to five limousines hired. That now has been cut back to one or even none. And a lot more cheaper veneer coffins are being used than before.”

Massey also said that cremations, costing as little as $1,000, now account for almost 30 per cent of his business, up from just 10 per cent in 2002.